


With a Flick of the Wrist

by simplylee123



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts Sixth Year, James Potter's Parents - Freeform, M/M, Marauders, Marauders era, Not-so unrequited love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25453897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplylee123/pseuds/simplylee123
Summary: In a world where your soulmate's name shows up on your wrist on your 16th birthday, Remus knows who his will be, but is positive that they won't return his feelings.A WIP wolfstar fanfic where Sirius’s family has prevented all of the Black children from getting their soul mark. Sirius is sneaky.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83





	1. Sirius's Soul Mark

There were two important things about Remus that his friends had figured out through the five years they’ve all been at Hogwarts. Number one: Remus was a werewolf. And number two: he was completely and extremely gay. They had figured out about his furry little problem in their first year, about half of a year into their time at Hogwarts. Sirius had put together the pieces about his ever-growing height and appetite, and being in the hospital wing after every full moon. In their third year, Sirius, James, and Peter all worked together to become Animagi, and then Remus’s transformations never seemed so bad. 

One important thing that they didn’t know about Remus was that he had a huge crush on his best friend. Sirius Black. 

Sirius was beautiful, witty, and just cool. Remus found that plenty of times he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the boy with long shiny hair and a continuous smile on his face. 

Another fun thing about the world they lived in was that on their 16th birthday, the name of their soulmate was supposed to show up on their wrist. Sirius’s birthday had just past, and nothing showed up. Something was always supposed to show up. If you didn’t have a soulmate or if they were dead, your own name came up instead. But Sirius didn’t have anything at all. 

The reason for this was his stupid pureblood family. The soul-marks messed up the arranged marriages, and according to them made the bloodline dirty. They had spent a week so far looking at books to break the spell that was cast on Sirius when he was a baby, but they had no luck so far. Lily was being the most help, finding the books that were most likely to have the spell in them, but whenever they saw it mentioned it never said any more than the name and what it did. Eventually, Remus suggested they go and ask Dumbledore. 

Sirius was reluctant at first, insisting that Dumbledore had more important things on his mind, but eventually gave in. He really wanted to know who it was more than anything. 

So they went to Dumbledore, the five of them, Lily staying as far away from James as possible. Her birthday was in January, so all James could talk about was how he was waiting for his name to show up on her wrist. 

James had been pining after Lily since he first set eyes on her in their first year. She came by their compartment on the train and said ‘hello,’ and all James could talk about for the rest of the journey was how beautiful and kind she was. You can believe how sick the other Marauders are of James’s obsession with Lily. As January drew closer, James got antsier and antsier. 

The five of them went to Professor McGonagall first and explained their situation, still wondering whether or not they would be able to see Dumbledore for a situation like this, and because they didn’t know the password to his office. McGonagall beckoned them to sit down.

“So,” she started, looking at them all with interest, “What brings you five here? It wasn’t something you did I hope.”

“It’s not, Professor,” Sirius piped up. He wanted to be the one to address his problem. 

“Sirius has got a problem that we haven’t been able to fix,” Lily added, and when she saw the ‘shut up and let me say it’ look on Sirius’s face, she gestured for him to continue. 

“My family always casts a certain spell on all of their children to make sure that their soulmate’s name doesn’t show up on their wrist so they can keep the arranged marriages, but since I don’t want any part in that inbreeding,” he put extra emphasis on that last word, “I want to get it back.”

McGonagall looked at him and then sighed. “I’m sorry, Sirius, but there are plenty of spells and curses that can achieve that and I’m not sure how to find out which one it is,” she told him, a sympathetic look on her face.

“Then why don’t we ask Professor Dumbledore about it?” Peter piped up. Subtle as always isn’t he.

“I’m sure Dumbledore is quite busy at the moment,” Professor McGonagall told them, and when she saw all of their crestfallen faces she added, “But I will ask him about it. You will be notified if Professor Dumbledore decides to research your issue.”

Sirius’s face became hopeful again, and with a, “Thank you, Professor,” he opened the door and lead everyone out. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Early November became mid-November, and there was still no word from Dumbledore. Sirius, however, did not take this as a bad sign. 

“He’s probably just researching. Or, even better, maybe he’s torturing my parents into telling him which curse they used! I’d pay to see that. Just to see the looks on their faces when-”

“Sirius,” Remus said, facing him with a knowing look. “You’re doing it again.”  
“Moony, come on. This is a big deal for me, I want to know who my soulmate is,” Sirius told him, a softer look covering his usually energetic features. 

Remus, however, did not want that. He was absolutely positive that Remus’s soulmate was Sirius, but Sirius definitely didn’t like Remus like that. It had happened before with various other people. Person A was Person B’s soulmate, but Person A’s soulmate was Person C. Remus had been dreading his 16th birthday, with what he knew, and that was that Sirius Black was straight. S T R A I G H T. He had made that much clear with how much of a ladies man he was. He flirted with teachers for merlin’s sake. 

“I know, I know I’m sorry,” Remus said, not being able to take his eyes off of the beautiful man in front of him. When Sirius turned away and sat on his own bed, Remus couldn’t help but stare. Discreetly stare, that is. 

Remus took in his long glossy black hair, his high cheekbones, and his sharp features. There was always something he liked about Sirius if it was his appearance, the way he held himself, how his face scrunched up when he was trying really hard to concentrate, and how he always skipped when he was talking about something he liked. 

The list of things he didn’t like about Sirius was much shorter and much more selfish. He didn’t like how flirty Sirius was with other people. He didn’t like how Sirius laid his head on people’s laps and swung his arms around their shoulders. He was always jealous, however hard it was to admit to such. 

He wanted Sirius to be like that with him, not anyone else. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The full moon that month was easier than the rest of them, no scratches occurring on his skin. Madam Pomfrey was stunned when she came to retrieve him from the Shrieking Shack, completely unaware of the three boys standing a mere six feet away from her under an invisibility cloak. 

“No cuts? That has to be a first. Anyway, that’s wonderful! Let me just bring you up to the hospital wing to get you something for the pain and then you can sleep in your dormitory,” she said to him as she lead the way out of the building. Remus followed her, smiling inwardly with the knowledge of his friends being right behind him. 

He drank his potion swiftly while Madam Pomfrey did some last-minute checks to his skin, and then she sent him on his way. When he left the hospital wing, however, his friends were nowhere to be seen. Remus thought that they must be sleeping, as the night had been long, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen in the common room or boy’s dormitories either. Remus was extremely tired though, so he decided he’d care about his friends’ absences when he woke up. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

“MOONY! Moony where are you?” a familiar voice rang through the bedroom. Remus opened his eyes just as his curtain was ripped back and Sirius’s gorgeous face appeared on the other side.

“Moony! Sorry that we woke you up, but I have brilliant news!” he exclaimed, climbing on top of Remus’s bed. 

He threw out his arms dramatically. “I, Sirius Black, am going to officially find out who my soulmate is!” 

Remus was internally slightly heartbroken but smiled anyway. “That’s great! When are you going to find out?” he asked. 

Sirius’s smile faltered a little. “That’s the annoying thing. The potion that they need to make to get the soul-mark magic to flow again takes almost five whole months to make. They’re starting it today, so it’ll be ready on March 21st,” he told them. 

“That’s a little over a week after my birthday,” Remus said, but it brought back what he didn’t want to think about. Remus would see Sirius’s name show up on his wrist just for how straight Sirius was to be confirmed. He couldn’t bear to think about it. 

At this point, everyone knew about Sirius’s problem, so with Sirius being the dramatic prick he is, he decided to dramatically run into the common room and shout the good news. His friends, however, disagreed. 

“Sirius, I don’t think that such a good idea,” Peter said out of the blue, while Sirius was talking eagerly with James about his entrance into the common room and when there would be the most people there. 

“And why on Earth would you think that?” he asked, eyeing Peter suspiciously. 

“I just don’t think we should allow James to go anywhere near Lily after what happened last time,” Peter replied, hiding from James’s venomous stare.

Last time, the Marauders were lounging in the common room when Lily walked in. James immediately looked up with a stupid grin on his face, and he watched in amazement that was very much noticed by his annoyed friends as she sat down on the couch James was sitting on. She wasn’t very close to him, but it’s the closest she’s ever voluntarily been. James has been making it known that he swears she’s warming up to him. He eventually ruined any chance at civil conversation with her as he slid down the couch and put his arm around her shoulder. 

“How’s it going, Evans?” he said, with a wink in her direction. To no one’s surprise, she stood up and grabbed her bag from its position next to her. 

“Potter, you should just stop trying,” she said with an eye roll, and she walked over to her usual corner of the room. 

Sirius leaned over to him trying to hide his amusement. “Nice try, mate. You’ll get her next time,” he said, and Remus poorly tried to cover his snort with a cough. James, however, didn’t look disheartened at all. 

“Yeah, you’re right. She’ll come around. My charm is irresistible, after all,” he said, and he went back to his neglected potions essay. 

Peter rolled his eyes, and Remus turned away to hide his silent laughter. Sirius just turned away from his best mate and just quietly wondered how much longer this was going to go on. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The first snow of the season was on the first of December. 16th birthdays were a big deal in the wizarding world, for the reason you already know. Lily’s birthday was the next person that they were friends with. Before Lily, however, was Snape. His birthday was on January 9th. Everyone was sure it was going to Lily. He never spent any time with any other girl. James was only excited for the moment when his name shows up on Lily’s wrist. 

“She’s gonna have a breakdown if it’s you mate,” Sirius said as they were getting dressed to go down to breakfast. 

“Yeah, what if she’s so ashamed that she doesn’t let anyone else see?” Peter piped up, as he walked out of the bathroom with his hair slightly wet. 

“Oh, it’ll be fine. She’s already warmed up to me so much and it’s only December,” he replied, his overconfidence just radiating from his body. 

“Whatever you say, mate,” Remus said as he picked up his bag to leave. He was trying to get Sirius to walk with him so they could just talk alone because always let his somewhat of a shield down when he was talking with “his Moony.” Remus loved this name, just because he wished Sirius meant it. His plan worked however and Sirius finished getting dress and grabbed his bag just as Remus was leaving the dormitory. 

“Moony, wait for me!” Sirius said dramatically as he ran over to where the door was closing to grab it before it shut. He closed the door behind him and set off to the Great Hall with Remus. 

Sirius looked up at his friend and studied his face. His round-but-sharp face and light brown curls stood out to him and he knew he had to look away before Remus caught him staring, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the gorgeous man in front of him.

“I can sense you staring at me,” Remus said, only loud enough for Sirius to hear. He quickly looked away, forgetting about Remus’s weird sixth sense.

“How does that work?” Sirius asked, trying to slightly change the subject away from him staring. 

“I’m not sure, I can just feel it,” he answered, and then just continued walking through the corridors. Sirius was glad for the silence to he could think about the crazy feeling he had when he was around Moony. His chest felt all firey and he couldn’t explain what was causing it, but just when he looked into Remus’s orange-brown eyes he-

“You’re doing it again,” Remus’s voice sounded again, but it was almost lost in the sea of voices from the Great Hall. 

“Sorry, er..” Sirius started, and Remus laughed.

“My good looks are just too much to handle,” he chuckled again and sat down at their usual spot in the middle of the table, Sirius sitting on the other side waiting for James. 

James came bounding into the Great Hall with a huge smile on his face. 

“Guess what just happened in the common room! No, actually, I’m just gonna tell you. Lily smiled at me! Like not in a mean way or anything! I said ‘hi’ and she just smiled! She’s coming in here, act natural.” James’s ramble made everyone laugh as Lily claimed her seat next to Marlene Mckinnon. They had become good friends over the five years they’ve had at Hogwarts. 

“Looking good, Evans,” James said when she turned her head in his direction.

“Thank you, James,” she said to him with a smile. All four marauders looked dumbstruck. Sirius turned open-mouthed to his best friend. 

“You didn’t just imagine it. Huh,” Sirius said to him, and James’s face turned defensive. 

“Of course I didn’t imagine it. I knew she would succumb to my many charms eventually,” he told Sirius. They all laughed at that as they finished their breakfast. Sirius got up from the table first.

“Oi, Moony, you coming? We have Transfiguration first, get your lazy arse up,” he said with a toss of his hair.

“Yeah yeah Pads, I’m coming,” he said, and he got up from his space at the table to follow his unrequited love.


	2. Pranks and Party Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pranks and party games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for spelling errors, I wrote most of this chapter today and wanted to get it out asap. I'm sorry for the long wait for such a short chapter.

Christmas Holidays were coming quicker than expected. The midterm exams were simple enough with Remus’s continuous studying. Sirius passed because he passes at everything without even showing up to class, Peter was always very nervous, looking at James to be reassured he was doing something right. James, well, he really just copied off of Remus. Remus was the put-together one.

The full moon fell on Christmas Eve, so Remus couldn’t go to James’s house until midday on Christmas. He was terribly dreading the full moon without his friends but he survived the 8 years without his friends’ animal forms. On the day before break Remus woke up to two boys jumping onto his bed. He deduced Sirius was the one over his chest because he could feel the long hair, and James was the one over his knees.

“MOONY MOONY MOONY! WAKE UP!” he recognized Sirius’s excited shouts. Remus kicked his leg to hit James in the gut, and with James’s yelp of surprise, he shoved Sirius off of his chest. Unfortunately, that movement had Sirius roll onto his crotch, making his body hot. He quickly sat up, moving Sirius to James’s first position.

Remus could feel the blush creeping up his neck, so he covered his face with a pillow.

“What is it, guys? What’s with waking me up at…” he didn’t know what time it was so he looked down at Sirius who was crawling up next to Remus.

“Seven AM?” he said, hugging Remus’s arm and he curled up to his side. Remus’s whole body was warming up and his hard-on was threatening to come back as it did in his dream last night of long black hair and high cheekbones. 

“Yeah, at seven AM. Pads, what the hell are you doing,” Remus asked, slightly confused at Sirius’s rare affection. 

“It’s cold as fuck in this room, and you’re warm,” he answered, closing his eyes.

“Come on guys, why are you all awake at seven in the morning on a fucking Saturday?” 

“It’s the last day before we all leave you here and we need to celebrate it by pulling a classic Marauders prank at dinner,” James answered, and Sirius made an ‘mhm’ sound as he was slowly drifting off to sleep in Remus’s bed. 

“OI! You just woke me up, you’re not sleeping in my bed now that I’m already awake!” Remus said to Sirius, but when he turned he came face to face with a large black dog. 

Sirius loved being a dog, and so he got up from his place next to Remus and jumped onto his chest, licking his face. 

“Pahahds oh my god, pull yourself together and let me get out of bed if you're so keen to wake me up,” Remus laughed, and Sirius made the quick change back to a human. 

Remus got up from his place on the bed and walked over to the bathroom that was off of the dormitories. Sirius had just gotten into his bed with him, what the heck did that mean? Remus had watched enviously as Sirius jumped into James’s bed with him, but all Sirius did then was shake James until he woke up, and then he jumped out of his bed. 

Remus shook it off. He had a prank to help plan, after all. 

“Don’t do any planning without me!” he called back while opening the door to the bathroom. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The prank was foolproof. It was obviously Slytherin related because nobody likes greasy Slytherins. All of the shampoo was going to be charmed to turn the user’s hair red and green until they kissed someone under the mistletoe. It was a tricky little charm that Remus found in their third year while he was reading a book on random charms. You could charm it onto the person directly, or onto a hair product or accessory for the same effect. Remus also knew the countercurse, but what’s the fun in that? All they would have to do is sneak into the Slytherin dorms in the middle of the night. James decided to take one for the team and stand down by the dungeons to get the password. 

“It’s always so predictable. They’re so self-absorbed, it’s almost always something to do with their house. Last time, it was ‘pure-blood’.” James was saying at breakfast. He had the cloak in his bag, like usual, but today he intended to use it right after history of magic. He would cause some havoc in history of magic first, of course. 

“Alright Remus, you’ve got the charm prepared?” Sirius asked.

Remus looked up at Sirius with a barely-there gleam in his eye. A quick wave of his wand under the table and Sirius’s long black locks turned vivid shades of green and red. 

“Hey! What the hell did you do!” shouted Sirius, “Now do I have to kiss someone to get rid of it?!”

“That’s one option…” Remus started, but Sirius shook his head.

“I will never kiss another girl again, they’re too much,” Sirius said dramatically. 

Remus froze.

Anyone else would’ve shaken it off as a joke. Remus knew better. 

“Trying to tell us something, Pads?” James joked, and Remus risked a look at Sirius. He looked slightly sheepish. 

“I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to tell you guys... I might be bisexual,”

WOAH.

Remus swallowed down his hope and instead displayed a look of surprise. 

“Why didn’t you tell us? We still love you Pads, it’s okay,” Remus said, meaning the last part all too much. 

“Okay, good,” Sirius replied. James and Peter nodded energetically. “Let’s get this prank started! BUt first, change my hair back. Please.”

Remus flicked his wand under the table and Sirius’s hair flowed back to it’s glossy black.  
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The prank went great, thanks for asking. James had found Slytherin's common room password, which was ‘Salazar’, the self-absorbed bastards. He had followed one of the second years into the dungeons under the invisibility cloak. 

Then at midnight, Sirius and Remus set out to charm the shampoo, hats, hair clips, hair ties, hair brushes, and any other hair accessories and tools they could find. It was bound to work no matter what. They even went to have a peek at Snivellous’s bed to see if there was anything they could do, but Sirius was starting to get sleepy after staying up until midnight, and Remus was getting tired from performing loads of complicated magic. So they let Snape be this time. 

The pair ran up from the dungeons, almost tripping on Mrs. Norris, and stopped outside of the Fat Lady’s portrait. 

“Fairy lights,” Sirius said, slightly out of breath. The painting swung open and they were greeted with a large gathering of people mingling and eating. James saw them come in and beckoned them to join him. 

“What the heck did you do, James?” Remus half-shouted over the noise. 

“Christmas end-of-term party!” James shouted back. “And hopefully my chance to kiss Lily under the mistletoe.” 

“You’re not still on about that, are you? Mate, she doesn’t like you,” Sirius said, apology in his tone but amusement on his face. 

“It’s magical mistletoe this time though. Maybe it’ll work in my favor,” James replied.

“Yeah, you wish,” Remus said back, but it went unheard over Marlene MiKinnons call of, “Truth or Dare in front of the couch!” James went to go find Peter and Remus was getting led through the sea of people to the couch by Sirius. Remus’s hand was tingling where Sirius was touching it. 

“Okay, we all know how to play, right?” Marlene asked the group. They answered with nods and a chorus of “yea” and “yes.” James was eyeing Lily, who was sitting right across from him. 

“Okay! We’ll start off easy. Mary, truth or dare?” Marlene asked, looking at her best friend sitting next to her. 

The thought for a moment. “Truth,” she answered.

“Okay, what’s your sexual orientation?” Marlene asked. 

“Raging lesbian. Next,” she said, and everyone else erupted into giggles. 

“Okay,” Mary said, getting everyone to settle down. “Lily, truth or dare?” she asked. James looked over intently, listening to every word. 

“Truth,” she answered.

“Oi, you guys are boring,” Sirius shouted.

“Calm down, Black, we’re getting there,” Mary shot back. “Lily, do you know who’s name is going to show up on your wrist in a few short weeks?” Lily paled slightly.

“I think so. But I’m not telling anyone,” she said, looking down at her feet. James looked a bit disheartened. 

“It’s probably gonna be Snivellous,” he whispered to Remus, but Remus wasn’t listening. He had completely forgotten about his soulmate’s name appearing on his wrist with all of the pranking. He didn’t have too much time to dwell on this, however, because the game kept going on. 

“Remus, truth or dare?” Lily asked him. 

He weighed his options. With truth, he could have to reveal some pretty dangerous stuff about himself, but with dare the worst that could happen was detention. Or him having to kiss his best friend, but Lily never did that to other people. 

“Dare,” he answered. 

Her mischievous smile fell slightly, and he knew what she had in mind to ask. He was glad he chose dare. 

“I dare you to kiss anyone in this room,” she said, her smile growing. 

Oh. He did not expect that. But luckily, Remus Lupin was the king of loopholes. He gave a short nod, turned to the side, and gave Sirius a peck on the cheek. It wouldn’t mean anything to Sirius, so why not? 

Sirius blushed, and Remus had to turn back to the front in fear of kissing him on the mouth involuntarily. 

“Hey! You were supposed to kiss someone on the mouth!” Lily told him.

“But did you say that?” Remus asked, a smile playing on his lips. 

“Ugh, no,” she said. Remus was rushed with relief and sudden tiredness. 

“I’m going to head up to bed, guys. I’m knackered,” he told them, and he got up from his place at the circle and walked up the stairs to the boys dormitories. It had been a long day.


	3. Christmas Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas part of the winter holidays.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate the support I've gotten in writing this story and I really apologize for the updates taking so long and being so short. The next chapter will hopefully be at least 3000 words, but I've got school to focus on and I'm publishing this in health class. Thank you for reading!

The train ride home was very long, but Remus enjoyed the banter among his friends in their compartment. 

“My present for you is the best,” James was telling Sirius, already expecting a witty answer.

“But I already said mine was better than yours, so yours can’t be the best,” Sirius replied, a smug smile on his face. Remus started laughing, they were acting like two-year-olds for God’s sake. 

“C’mon guys, why can’t the presents be equally good? And it doesn’t even make sense to have this fight if you don’t know what you’re getting from each other,” Remus added, and they both looked up at him. 

“Moony’s just upset his gifts for us are terrible,” James said, and that started Remus's join into the childish argument. Peter was clueless, as always, and he was eating Remus’s chocolate in the corner next to James. It would take Remus approximately four and a half minutes to take the rest of his chocolate back. 

On Boxing Day, the boys were all going to meet at James’s house, as it was the biggest house in the group. Well, maybe besides Sirius’s house, but James’s parents were also kind and welcoming which they couldn’t say about Sirius’s. There had already been two incidents where Sirius had sought refuge at James’s house for the majority of summer break. They usually choose to never bring these up. Sirius was bouncing his leg in anticipation of the usual scolding he got upon his arrival at King’s Cross. 

“It’ll be okay, Pads,” Remus said, giving Sirius’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. Remus had only been truly present for one of these episodes good old Walburga pulled every time. His father usually whisked him away, not approving of their family. Remus always tried to tell him that Sirius wasn’t anything like his family, but you know how parents are. 

Sirius gave Remus a quick nod, the anxiety at a high. The train was coming to a stop. Remus risked a look out of the window, but the easily spotted Black family was nowhere to be found. All that he could see was James’s parents, smiles on their faces as they saw James waving through the window. 

“Pads, I don’t see them,” Remus said, peering at Sirius’s face. He looked confused. “Did they say anything about not meeting you here?” 

Sirius shook his head. “They’re supposed to be here, but..” he trailed off, as he saw Regulus step up to a man with black robes. Remus hadn’t noticed anyone get off of the train. Regulus turned around, with a smug smile on his face, and waved at the Marauders’ compartment on the train. In a split second, Regulus was gone.

Sirius was extremely confused at this point. His mother always made empty threats of “you’re never coming back here!” and “you’re a disgrace to our name!” He never thought that she would mean them.

“Wormy...” Remus started, and Peter looked up from his corner in the compartment. 

“Yes?” he answered. 

“Did- did you check if Sirius got any mail before you left the common room?”

“Oh!” Peter exclaimed. “Yeah, uh, it’s right here. I was going to give it to you but you and James were arguing and I decided to wait. And I forgot. But here,” he said, and Sirius was handed an envelope with an all too familiar family crest on the fold. Sirius looked at Remus with frightened eyes and opened the envelope with shaky fingers. 

Sirius Black,

Never, in all my years as a mother could I have imagined such a disgrace being a part of my family. Your father finally took the locking charm off of your door and I am overwhelmed with shame. 

Are you not upset to be in the house all of our family despises? Gryffindors are lazy and arrogant bastards and I will not stand having one in my house. Consider yourself a part of the blood-traitors society. I never want to see you here again.

Walburga Black

Sirius couldn’t believe it. He was torn between disappointment in himself and joy to be away from all of their nonsense. He was disowned. He handed the letter to Remus, who was looking at him expectantly. 

“James,” Sirius started, a smile starting to show up on his lips. “Do you think I can stay at your house for all of the holidays?”

James’s face broke out into a smile but fell almost immediately. “What happened? Are you not allowed back?”

“No, I’m not. They kicked me out. But, that means I can be a part of your family now, which is infinitely better.”

Peter was listening to this conversation intently. “If your parents disowned you, does that mean that the soulmark spell is going to break?” 

Remus looks up. He’d gotten better at controlling his reactions to the mention of soulmarks. 

“No, Peter,” Sirius said back to him. 

Thank God.

“It’s a curse she cast on me, it’s not something that I’m born into. We still gotta wait for March,” he finished. 

Oh right. March. 11 days after Remus’s birthday. He had done some serious (no pun intended) thinking about who Sirius’s soulmate could be, and so far he had gotten nowhere. After the sudden “I’m gay” announcement, Remus had been thinking about every guy Sirius had thought twice about. He hadn’t come to any conclusion. He had decided to ask him over the break. 

‘C’mon Sirius,” James said. “Let’s go home.”

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Sirius’s holidays were the best they’ve ever been. Usually, he was forced to spend the first couple days of the holidays at his house, being shot dirty looks and locked up in his room. Now, however, he could do whatever he wanted with Fleamont and Euphemia as his new parents. Well, they weren’t really his new parents, but that’s what it felt like. They gave him one of the many guest rooms to keep as his own. When he walked in with James, Euphemia showed him to a room covered in the Gryffindor banners and quidditch posters from his old bedroom. 

Christmas day was also wonderful for everyone. The four boys decided to wait and open the gifts from each other on boxing day, so they opened family presents on Christmas day. James owled all of his friends long letters of babbling with his new quill, Sirius doing the same, and Remus sent pictures of his new book on charms and jinxes. Sirius had been very excited upon seeing the book in Remus’s trunk on Boxing Day. 

“Can I see the book Moony?” Sirius asked, running up to Remus in the doorway of the Potters’ house.

“What book?” Remus answered, knowing exactly what Sirius was talking about. 

“Mooonnyyyyyy let me see it please,” Sirius said, getting ready to pull his puppy dog eyes if he had to. 

“When I get in the door, Jesus,” Remus answered, already knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist. Sirius smiled and led Remus to one of the other guest bedrooms. 

“This one’s yours because it has the biggest bed. We all know you do cartwheels in your sleep,” Sirius said, and he bounded out of the door expecting a chase. 

Remus dropped his bags on the floor immediately, of course, and chased after Sirius. It wasn’t even that much of an insult, Remus was always restless at night, but he still chased after him like it was his job. 

Remus didn’t understand why Sirius did this either. Remus was always faster with his werewolf reflexes so a human didn’t stand a chance. Remus had Sirius pinned on the couch within 20 seconds. 

“That’s a record, Moons,” Sirius said, panting under the werewolf’s grip. Remus got off before things turned awkward. Remus wasn’t even out of breath.

“Oi!” James called from the kitchen. “What are you two lunatics doing in there?”

“Having sex,” Sirius joked, and Remus turned beet red. 

“H-he’s kidding, James,” Remus said, laughing with Sirius. That was another thing Sirius did a lot all of a sudden. It’s like he knew exactly how Remus was feeling about him, and then decided to joke about it right there. Remus would definitely think this was it if he didn’t do such a good job hiding his feelings. 

James joined in the laughter and Peter walked in the door an hour later. He would kill the other three if they ate without him, so they waited until he showed up.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Presents happened after dinner. Sirius went first, giving his gifts to each person. The suck up even got one for James’s parents. Sirius had inherited some of his family's money of course, so he was able to afford some of the best. 

He got James an advanced broomstick care set, complete with the best broom polish and some fancy gold clippers for the twigs or whatever. He got Remus a new jumper, with the name “Moony” stitched very small on the front left corner. He put it on immediately. Sirius struggled on what to get Peter because the obvious answer would be chocolate, and Sirius was anything but obvious. He got Peter chocolate obviously, but also a muggle polaroid camera with the potion needed to animate the photos. Peter had mentioned wanting to make memories late one night, and Sirius had remembered. He got Mrs. Potter a new oven mitt and a set of pots and pans, and Mr. Potter got a new planner for the next year and a set of nice quills. It was a good Christmas. 

Remus, Peter, and James had given their presents next respectively, very generic gifts like Quidditch books and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. 

Now, Remus was squished next to Sirius on an armchair after the latter decided to occupy the nonexistent space next to the werewolf. Remus was silently suffering, Sirius leaned up against him breathing on his neck, but it was a good suffering...maybe. 

“Mooooooonnnnnnnyyyyyy,” Sirius said against Remus’s neck, sending the vibrations into his chest. 

“Are you tired, Sirius?” Remus asked him, already knowing the answer. It was around seven pm, Mrs. Potter cleaning up after a wonderful Christmas dinner. 

“Yyeeeeeeessssssssssss,” he answered, looking up at Remus with overdramatized hooded eyes. 

“Alright, up we go,” Remus announced, and he picked up Sirius bridal style, carrying him up the stairs. He acted oblivious to the protests coming from the boy in his arms, and he carried him up the stairs. Werewolf strengths really came in handy sometimes, especially for the very common time when you need to carry your friend up the stairs to his bedroom. The protests had died down at this point, and Sirius was not opposed to lying down. 

Remus tossed Sirius down onto his bed, Sirius should “Oi!” when his body hit the mattress. Remus turned to leave the room when Sirius said, “Goodnight Moony.”

“Goodnight Pads.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey heh, so if you’re seeing this hello, i’m making this edit 11/22/20, and i hope to try and get the story fully planned tomorrow, and the next chapter written in the next three days. all i needed, i recently realized, is an actual plan. without a plan, i was needing to make up things on the spot as i go and that takes up a frick ton of brainpower. thankssss hope to see you in the next update


	4. Snape's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early January, soulmate things come up.  
> also, Sirius is bi. if that wasn’t made clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/23/20 - i hope to have the next update out soon lol

The rest of the Christmas holidays continued in very much the same way. They hung out exactly like they did at school, and were together all of the time. Remus was starting to get a bit on edge at the last couple of days of the break because he was the kind of person who wanted and needed a schedule to follow. Sirius and James, however, were the kind of people that didn’t want a schedule, but they definitely needed one. Remus and Mrs. Potter were always busy trying to corral them while Peter just followed whoever seemed to be doing the most fun thing, which was usually James and Sirius. 

The last day of the break came very quickly, however, and James was still completely unpacked. There was plenty of rushing around before the train needed to be boarded. Sirius was positive he had forgotten at least three things, but Mrs. Potter was a saint and would send anything he forgot to him when he got to school. He locked his trunk and carried down the stairs, where James was running around to make sure nothing was forgotten, Peter was following him, and Remus was sitting on the couch reading a book. Remus always looked so young when he was entranced in a book. The interest on his face always softened his features. His train of thought was ripped away as his head snapped up with Mrs. Potter’s call.

“Sirius! Are you all packed?” she queried. 

“Yes ma’am,” Sirius replied, turned away from Remus as the werewolf looked up from his book. His features weren’t soft anymore, they were… he couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t anything he was familiar with, at least not on a guy…

His train of thought was snatched away again as Peter rushed down the stairs and collided with Sirius and the long-haired boy’s trunk popped open. Clothing flew everywhere, and it took 10 minutes to clean up. Remus may or may not have helped, and then may or may not have stolen a Gryffindor scarf very sneakily. It smelled like Sirius, so why not? If he realized it was gone then he would just hide it somewhere in Sirius’s bed. 

Mrs. Potter rushed them all outside to do their side along apparation and got them to the platform with only four minutes to spare. 

“Be safe boys! Don’t get into too much trouble!” she called while helping James’s things onto his trolly. Sirius and Remus went simultaneously while Peter waited for James. They put their trunks on the rack and went to their compartment, always the sixth one down from the entrance of the train. It was always empty for them. 

James and Peter ended up having to jump into the moving door with the shorter boy almost falling out of the entrance. Cheers went up when James picked himself up, and he did a dramatic bow, throwing out a wink. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The first twenty minutes of the ride were quite enjoyable, what with James and Peter chatting about Quidditch and Remus and Sirius talking about whether or not it was possible to make muggle technology work at Hogwarts. Remus decided not to go to the prefect meeting that happened on the train rides because it was likely he wouldn’t be able to come back. 

“Do you even own any muggle electronics, Sirius?”

“No, but you have a record player that we could listen to muggle music with,”

“That’s why you’re wondering about this? I could probably ask Lily, she would know,”

“Did someone say Lily? Love of my life, most beautiful woman on the planet-” James joined in.

“Shut up you wanker, she doesn’t even like you,” Peter shot back.

Sirius checked his watch, and then looked up. 

A knock on the compartment door stopped both of the conversations, and the knocker was a pretty girl with blond hair.

Looking at Sirius expectantly.

“I’ll see you later lads, I’ve got some business to take care of,” he answered getting up from his spot.

“Sorry, business?” Remus asked him, but he didn’t answer. He just opened the compartment, and the werewolf watched the girl grasp Sirius’s arm and giggle at something he said. 

Something wrenched in his chest, any hope he ever had slipping away. He hardly heard James and Peter gossiping a mere two feet away from him

“What’s her name?” Peter asked.

“That’s Kinsley Wood. She’s a Ravenclaw sixth year, and she’s a mighty good chaser on her team,” James answered.

“How does Sirius know her that well?”

“We never asked if he had anyone, did we?”

“I suppose not.”

“What do you think, Moony?” James turned to Remus, who didn’t answer.

“Moons?” He tried again. Remus heard both attempts at bringing him into the conversation and didn’t want to contribute. 

“Prefect meeting. See you guys,” was all he answered, not looking at Peter and James’s confused faces.  
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Remus made his way to the front of the train deep in thought. The prefect meeting had already started, and Remus snuck down next to Lily, who was listening intently. 

“What’s on your mind?” she asked him, and when he didn’t answer she elbowed him in the ribs to get his attention. He looked up at her and she asked him again.

“Nothing, I’m just tired,” he answered her, and even though she obviously didn’t believe him, she didn’t pry an answer out of him. 

That’s one reason he liked Lily more than his own friends sometimes. She didn’t pry an answer out of him when he obviously wasn’t in a good headspace. His friends would ask and ask until he broke and had some serious conversation with them. The serious conversation was probably the better thing to do in the long run, but the short run was more important at this exact moment. 

He was also thankful that Lily had listened in the meeting because he didn’t. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The prefects were to patrol the hallways like usual, but they also had to do something beneficial to the students, either together or as a group. Remus, listening to Lily because he felt he owed it to her, suggested a study group. 

Of course, Lily loved that idea. 

During the feast, they decided they were going to meet Mondays and Wednesdays because they didn’t interfere with Gryffindor quidditch practice that Remus was forced to watch and that Lily, unbeknownst to the Marauders, voluntarily sat in on. She told herself that it was to watch her best friend, Marlene Mckinnon, play her position, but that wasn’t the whole truth. 

James and Peter kept shooting Remus odd looks, all while listening to Sirius talk about what had happened in the empty compartment with the Kinsley girl. Apparently, they didn’t go all the way, he just felt up her shirt and she stuck her leg between his. Remus wasn’t sure if he should be internally relieved or still disappointed. 

He decided on being disappointed, but he was mostly upset with himself for showing it on his face. James decided to speak up.

“Oi, mate, what’s up with you? You’ve been acting funny since we got on the train,” he asked him.

“I’m just tired,” he answered, and he meant it that time. He was tired of sitting by and waiting for Sirius to magically become interested in him of all people. March was three months away, and it both felt like a lifetime and a day before his heart would be on his sleeve. 

Literally. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Remus was quiet the rest of the feast, just not remembering the full moon happening in a few short days. He was never prepared, so he wasn’t nervous about it being so soon. After Dumbledore gave his usual speech, Remus pushed himself away from the table, ready for a good night's sleep. He slept a lot before the full moons. He fell asleep in History of Magic, which was the worst thing that could happen for him and his friends given the fact that Remus was the one person to pay attention. Good thing he was friends with Lily. 

The full wasn’t bad, his friends were there for him like always. When the transformation took over his senses, he resigned to it, knowing it would be over soon enough. He never remembered the transformation, nothing at all. Some people remembered feelings they felt and things like that, but it was always blank for him. 

He woke up in the cot that was in the shack, which was different. Usually, he would wake up on the floor and then his friends would lift him into the cot before the nurse came in. This time, however, when he opened his eyes he was greeted with a sleeping Sirius Black. Remus’s head was propped up on the other boy’s chest despite how much bigger than Sirius Remus was. The werewolf wanted nothing more than to stay like that forever, but all good things came to an end. Footsteps were heard, and the three other boys woke up from their spot’s around the shack. Sirius gave Remus a squeeze and went to the cloak with his friends. 

That night at dinner when Remus was released from the hospital wing though, some things went down. 

The date was January 9th, and everyone was peacefully eating dinner when a shout came from somewhere at the Slytherin table. The Marauders looked around because they hadn’t had any time to pull a prank on anyone, so the cause could be anything. 

Little did they know, it was Severus Snape’s birthday.

His 16th birthday.

More shouts kept coming from the Slytherin table, and Sirius and James’s curiosity got the best of them.

“Oi, what’s going on over there?” James shouted, and the Gryffindor table turned to watch. 

One of the Lestranges and Lucious Malfoy were wrestling Snape’s sleeve up, and Narcissa and her sister were doubled over in laughter. 

“It’s Severus’s birthday!” Lily said aloud, and then immediately regretted it. She said it out loud to remind herself, not to give Sirius and James the missing information. 

“Oi, you greasy git, keep your hand off of Lily or you’ll catch mine!” James shouted across the room, and Professor McGonagall stood up and asked for silence.

Nobody even looked her way.

“Hey!” Lily shouted to him. “We don’t even know if it’s my name! Calm down, will you.”

Lucious and the Lestrange boy managed to rip the sleeve up, and showed it to the Black sisters. They erupted into a fit of giggles. 

‘Lily Evans!” Narcissa shrieked, at the same time Bellatrix shouted “The Mudblood!” The Great Hall broke out into whispers, and Lily got up from the table and promptly left the halls. Severus watched her go as he wrestled his arm out of the other boys’ hands. 

James got up to follow her out of the hall, but Remus put a hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe yours is not the face she wants to see right now,” he said to James in the kindest voice he could muster. There are a million reasons that Lily could have stormed out.

James thought for a moment, eyes darting around at all of the students who were torn between watching Snape and the Slytherin boys wrestling and Remus and James having some kind of agreement with their eyes.

“Yeah, okay,” he finally said. “But don’t make her angry.”

“I won’t,” Remus promised, and he left the whispers of the Great Hall to follow Lily.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Remus ran out of the Great Hall, realizing that she had about a two-minute head start. He listened as hard as he could, (werewolf senses), and he heard faint footsteps of someone walking very quickly, near the alcove on the fourth floor. Remus had taken a piece of parchment to map out Hogwarts to look for shortcuts, passageways, and hiding places, and this one of the places he had found first. He broke out into a run to the staircases, still listening to Lily’s footsteps. They stopped just as Remus stepped onto the fourth floor, and he made his movements somewhat loud so as not to startle her.

“Lily,” Remus said into the hallway. It wasn’t a question, more like a statement. He heard a shuffle and then a sniff, and then Lily’s flaming red hair poked out from behind the tapestry that covered the alcove. She wasn’t crying, but she looked furious. Remus was almost nervous. He lifted the tapestry further and stepped inside so that he was across from her. His legs were a bit too long to be comfortable, but this wasn’t about him.

“Lily, what is it,” Remus asked.

She looked up at him and he could see the wheels turning in her head. Remus was familiar with the feeling. The “what should I say and what should I leave out.”

“Don’t leave anything out, and don’t worry about burdening me with anything,” he added, and that finalized what she was going to say. She took a huge breath.

“I do not understand how I didn’t know Severus felt that way! He always acted like we were more than friends but I thought it was just his way of showing affection because I’m his only friend that’s a girl, but now that I think about it I don’t know how I could be so stupid! He always followed me around and whenever someone so much as looked at me for longer than five seconds he would glare at them or tell them to shove off! He’s borderline obsessed with me, and now we’re soulmates. It’s the worst fate in the whole world,” she spilled all of this out, angry tears filling her eyes. 

“And on top of all of that,” she added, “He called me a mudblood last week and still hasn’t apologized for it.”

That is where the line is drawn.

“Wow,” Remus breathed, trying to collect his words and find out what to say to make her feel better.”

“Well,” he started, thinking about what’s been on his mind for the past year. “You could be his soulmate but he isn’t necessarily going to be yours.”

Lily looked up. “Yes, I know that. It is highly unlikely though,” she replied.

Remus sat for a second. Rare? So that means if Sirius is his soulmate, then there's a high chance of him returning the feelings? Remus looked up at Lily, not daring to show any of his thoughts on his face. 

“Do you like him?” he asked her. It was a simple enough question. 

“I’m not even sure I want to be his friend anymore,” she admitted. 

“Well then it’s much more likely for this to be one-sided,” Remus told her. She nodded and wrapped her arms around her knees. “Do you anyone else though?” He asked her. It was an innocent question, and Lily didn’t seem to think he would run off and report to James whatever she said. 

“It’s not important,” she told him, but Remus could see the pink spots coloring her cheeks and the tip of her nose. 

“I won’t tell him,” Remus added, and Lily glared at him half-heartedly. 

“I don’t know how I feel yet. You’ll probably be the first to know when I figure it out though,” she told him, a genuine smile on her lips. She waved at him, walking in the direction of the library. Remus stretched his legs out to get more comfortable, and something hit him. 

I hope Sirius doesn’t explode like that when he finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW FIC IDEA - TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK  
> so i want to make a fic in the harry potter era where theres a COVID like thing going around and they have to use muggle tech to attend their classes and communicate. I have the first little bit typed out and it would be from everyone's perspective soooo


	5. Sirius's Party Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long again, I don't really have an excuse for the wait either

The first couple weeks back from winter hols were slow going, most people looked exhausted and bored, so Sirius and James took it upon themselves to cheer everyone up.

With a party. 

The last time Remus was at anything like a party, he was forced to endure truth or dare and then kiss Sirius on the cheek.

Well, on second thought that wasn’t that bad.

But yes it was! Remus didn’t want to ruin his friendship with Sirius. Kissing him while he was sober would be disastrous. 

Werewolves can’t get drunk.

Well, maybe he could just pretend to be drunk? James and Sirius didn’t actually know that alcohol had no effect on him, so he could just pretend. He was a good actor. 

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

“Ladies and gents of the Gryffindor common room,” Sirius shouted while standing on top of the table between the couches. “We’re having a party in the Room of Requirement!” 

There were whispers around the common room as one of the third years asked, “What’s the Room of Requirement?” 

Sirius made it sure to not invite many younger kids, but he didn’t want to be rude about it. 

“If you don’t know where it is, then you don’t come,” Sirius replied easily, and he hopped down from the table. 

Another wave of gasps rippled through the crowd, as well as outraged voices saying things like, “That’s not fair!” and “Why won’t you tell us!?” Remus decided to just keep his eyes on his book and watch whatever was happening unfold. 

“See you there!” Sirius and James shouted in unison, running up to the dorm to avoid the storm of younger years trying to follow them. A couple of people turned to Remus, but he shook his head at them and followed his best friends up the stairs.

He opened the door to hear a shower running and Sirius sitting alone on his bed. A party? Really? They just got back from Christmas hols and now they were going to throw a party where there would most definitely be illegal alcohol consumption party games. Party games included truth or dare, which had gone very awry last time. 

“Sirius?” Remus queered, closing the dormitory door behind him.

“Hm?” He answered back.

“Are you actually throwing a party? And if so are you going to illegally obtain alcohol?”

“Yes, and maybe,” he answered, throwing out Remus’s favorite smile that made him weak in the knees. He actually stumbled a bit walking to his own bed. 

“Maybe?”

“I might have someone obtain it illegally for me.”

“Of course.”

“Don’t expect any less from me,” Sirius laughed, and then stood up. 

“Where are you going?” Remus asked him, and Sirius blinked back at him. 

“Uh...I’ve got to...um- studying,” he finished lamely, and Remus saw right through it. He reached over from where he was sitting on his bed to his nightstand to grab his book, and he opened it to the page he was on. 

“I thought her name was Kinsley,” he said without looking up from his book and watched Sirius give him a tight smile and walk out of the room. 

_Damn. That better end soon._

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The party was at night and about two hours from the current time. Remus was in the library, and Sirius and James were God knows where. Peter was maybe with a girl, he never stayed with one person for too long. 

Remus didn’t actually have any more homework, which was a bit crazy given the fact that all of the teachers were piling it on them to prepare them for their NEWTs, so he was reading muggle books in his favorite corner of the library. He loved muggle books. The romance novels, cheesy as they were, gave him good stories to read and vicariously live through. He really was just procrastinating having to leave his comfortable spot to go to the Room of Requirement and possibly make a fool of himself. 

Lily Evans made her way over to Remus in the library. She joined him every once in a while to study because he was a very good study partner. Very smart, but quiet so you could work. She sat down, and Remus jumped a bit before realizing who it was. 

“Hey, Lily,” he said to her, looking up from his book. 

“Hi,” she answered, looking at him. He looked back at her expectantly. 

“Are you actually going to this party?” she blurted, looking at him still. His expression faltered a bit, and he answered. 

“Yes,” he replied.

“Do you want to go?”

“Ye-kind of?” he said it like a question, and she tilted her head as if to ask him to elaborate. 

He sighed. “I don’t want to get asked stupid questions in truth or dare, I don’t want to kiss anyone in spin the bottle, and I _really_ don’t want to hold anyone’s hair back while they vomit.” 

Instead of laughing as he expected her to, she looked solemn. “I understand that,” she said back to him, and then she smiled a mischievous smile. 

“Uh oh, does Lily Evans have an idea?” Remus asked mockingly. 

“Yes, I do. Well, it may not be a very good one, but we could monitor the party like the prefects we are.” She said to him, and then he looked at her questioningly.

“Sirius is gonna get suspicious, and what are we going to do? It’s not like we can tell people to stop doing something,” he replied to her. 

“We won’t ask them to stop doing something, we’ll trick them into it. I found a charm that turns alcohol into water, but it still tastes the same. We can go around charming peoples’ cups so that they don’t get drunk enough to throw up. Do you know how many people are going to be there?” 

Remus laughed. “Knowing Sirius? Everyone. Everyone that knows about the Room of Requirement, that is. So the Ravenclaws, the Hufflepuffs that know Ravenclaws, and the Gryffindors that know James and Sirius.”

“I can’t do anything about your truth or dare problem. Just leave the game as soon as deemed accessible. I’ll probably be on the sidelines after someone asks me to kiss James,” Lily answered him, and then she pulled out two glasses and a small bottle of something. 

“Is that...alcohol?” Remus asked incredulously. Lily Evans, obtaining firewhiskey illegally. 

“Yes, but it’s for an experiment. No one can see us from this corner of the library, right?”

“No, they can’t,” he assured her, and then she poured out the liquid into the two glasses. There wasn’t much, (trust Lily), and the amber liquid came about two centimeters up from the bottom of the glass. 

“Take a sip. A small sip. Remember what it tastes like,” she ordered him, and he took a small sip, the liquid burning his throat slightly. She did the same. “Now, I’ll teach you the charm to change it to water. Repeat after me, Vocatus Aqua!” she said the incantation, and the liquid didn’t change a bit. Remus looked up at her, and she smiled back. She gestured to the glass.

“Try it,” she told him, and he picked up the glass and brought it to his lips. It tasted exactly the same, but there was no burning sensation afterward. He looked up at her, smiling. 

“Genius,” he said, and then set about turning the other glass to mock firewhiskey, doing it perfectly on the first try. (of course)

Lily stayed for a while, vanishing the glasses and empty bottle with her wand. After Remus learned how to perform the charm without moving his lips. He and Lily talked about books, homework, and about James. 

“How’s James?” she asked, and then quickly realized her mistake of asking.

“ _How’s James_?!” Remus almost shouted, and Lily quickly shushed him. 

“I _mean_ , how are your friends? James is still cornering me in class so he was the first one I thought of, but I also mean Sirius and Peter, they’re your friends too and-”

“ _Lily_ ,” Remus cut her off, crossing his arms. “James is fine, still incredibly in love with you, if you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t wondering,” Lily insisted, a slight blush covering her freckled face. 

“Yeah, okay,” Remus said, not believing her in the slightest. 

‘I’m serious, I wasn’t wondering. He’s rude and immature,” she scoffed, unconvincingly, and turned to the essay she was finishing in front of her. 

“Sirius’s party starts in half an hour, we should start packing up,” Lily said, obviously trying to change the subject. 

“Oh, eager to see Prongs, are you?” Remus said, nonchalantly putting his books in his bag. 

“Ugh, you really are annoying sometimes Remus Lupin,” she replied with a smile. Her features turned to question. “Why do you call him Prongs anyway? And Sirius is Padfoot or something like that.”

Of course, she noticed that they called each other unique nicknames. “I’ll tell you later,” he said, and he finished packing up his books. “Sirius is gonna be expecting me early, and we need to be there to charm everyone’s drinks.” 

They had reasoned a bit ago that even though it tasted, smelled, and looked the same, it would take real talent for the others not to notice that the drinks don’t have the same alcoholic burning taste. They were going to start charming the drinks on everyone’s second round so that there was less of a chance that other students would recognize the different feeling, and so that they were tipsy but not drunk enough to be throwing up in the middle of the night. 

They reached the wall of the Room of Requirement and Remus, having used the Room of Requirement many times previously, walked past it three times.

Take me to the room where Sirius is throwing a party.

The door appeared, but it wasn’t the grand door that usually showed up, it was one of the doors that had a little mail flap in it. Remus and Lily stepped up to the door and tried the doorknob. 

“Locked,” Lily whispered, and just as she was about to pull out her wand to unlock it, they saw the mail flap open from the other side.

“Who’s there,” James’s voice sounded from the other side.

“It’s us James, me and Remus,” Lily said, and the door immediately swung open. 

“Lily! Light of my life, woman of my dreams-”

“Yeah, yeah let me in,” she pushed past him, a blush covering her cheeks. Much like color in her cheeks from the library. James looked at Remus.

“She’s warming up to me, I can feel it,” James said with his signature grin, and then he led Remus into the room. 

“What’s with the different door?” Remus asked James. 

“We want to keep the Slytherins out, so if we ask for names before letting people in we can keep them out,” James answered. 

Remus kept following James to the back of the room where Lily and Sirius were talking, and Peter was setting up the refreshments table. There were very obviously disguised bottles of firewhiskey on one side of the table, and when Remus looked up at Sirius he just grinned.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

The party was an absolute hit, and it was just half an hour in. The party was set to start at 6:30 which gave enough people time to have a proper dinner before heading over. Remus and Lily had been in the library during dinner, so James sent Peter to grab even more food from the kitchens. The first people to arrive were a couple of older Gryffindors, and the Ravenclaws who had heard about the party through the grapevine. Hufflepuffs came after them, and the Room of Requirement was subtly expanding to fit the mass of 50 people. 

The other fifth-year girls arrived soon after, and then they had a full house. Marlene and Dorcas were sitting together on one of the couches, and Sirius was walking away from where he was talking to some older Gryffindors to get his second cup of firewhiskey. Remus jumped into action subtly following him to the table. He had told Lily he would focus on the guys, and Lily said she would focus on the girls. 

Remus walked behind Sirius just as he finished pouring his cup, and quickly flicked his wand in the cup’s direction. There was no physical change, but Remus walked up to Sirius to avoid suspicion. 

“Party’s a hit, innit,” Remus said to him, and Sirius grinned. 

“Hell yeah it is, I can’t wait to play truth or dare or something. Marlene said she was talking with some of the Ravenclaws to organize it,” Sirius replied and then walked back to the group of Gryffindors he was talking with. He took a sip of his drink and Remus held his breath. Sirius made a slight reaction to the taste, but quickly forgot about it and Remus exhaled.   


_Truth or Dare_  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you should go follow my tiktok where I give you fic recs  
> @fanficti0n

**Author's Note:**

> leave comments, kudos, and ideas <3


End file.
